Micra Electrics

[SOMMERS]

Hello ABers,
My daughter has a R plate Nissan Micra and the other day it wouldn't start. Her boyfriend tried jumping it but, at first, crossed the jump leads on the terminals i.e neg to positive. I spotted the mistake and successfully started the car but, when the leads were removed the car stalled. I removed the battery and took it home to charge overnight. I noticed the cells were just about dry and topped them up with the correct water. Next day I re-connected the battery and the car started fine. Here's the mystery bit. As it was getting dusk my wife turned on the headlights, as I walked around the car I noticed there were no back lights. After checking we found there were no stop lights, dashboard lights, interior lights, radio or side lights. All we basically had was fan blower, headlights and main beam. I took out one of the rear clusters and all 3 lamps seemed o.k. I took out 3 of the relevant fuses and they too seemed fine.So I'm now puzzled as to what has gone wrong and what the cure could be. Any suggestions please?

[EDDIE51]

I think you did some damage when the battery was incorrectly connected.
I would consult a car electrician, car electrics can be a nightmare unless you know what you are doing.

[Hymie]

I would check all the fuses, remember that some cars have more than one fuse box – often high current fuses are somewhere under the bonnet. Some fuses may be integral to the positive battery connection.

It is possible that connecting the battery in reverse polarity has destroyed some control circuitry - resulting in loss of the lights/radio you have observed and it is possible other electrical components are now inoperative (due to the fault).